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You consider that that might not be a good thing? I've learned to let even my shortest drabbles sit for at least half an hour, so I can go back, reread, and find better phrases and have a better perspective. It helps avoid common errors, give a better focus, and allows you to look back and see if that was really how you want to phrase things.

Hmm....I guess I'll drop the prologue to my story and then see what the opinions of people are like.

Here's a bit of a summary of what the story is about:

Set in an alternate time line of Gundam SEED in CE 66, the story follows Sashimaru Miyuki, who is a teenage girl who has joined an experimental program funded by Orb's government. As she grows up and obtains her commission four years later, just months before the start of the SEED storyline, she eventually finds herself called to war when the Atlantic Federation demands for Orb's allegiance for its mass driver, but is turned down. Throughout her life, she struggles to fight and protect what is important to her, which also serves as the driving force of why she chose to join this program in the first place.

Spoiler for Prologue:

Soldier of OrbPrologue

“And so in recognition of her service and performance of the Genesis campaign, I hereby award Navy Lieutenant Colonel Sashimaru Miyuki, the Orb Star for her bravery, leadership, and for going far above and beyond the call of duty.” As the Chief Representative of Orb placed the medal around Miyuki’s neck, everyone started to applaud her, extending their congratulations to the war hero.

Shaking the Chief Representative’s hand, Miyuki felt a swell of pride rise up inside herself. She had come a long way since her days as a young Lieutenant Junior Grade. Marching back to her position on the parade square, she could see her M1 Astray in the far distance; its ceremonial gear gleamed brightly in the morning sun. Emblazoned upon its left shoulder was her personal mark; it was originally a special symbol she and her husband shared, which had long since been adapted as her personal marker and call-sign: Shield. To everyone else, however, she was known as, “The Shield Maiden of Orb.”

Standing in formation, she could see her husband in the stands, watching, beaming with great pride at all she had accomplished in her career to date. He was one of her greatest support in her exploits. Next to him, her parents and sisters, and their families sat together wearing equally happy and proud expressions, while trying to contain their joy and exuberance in the present setting. Together, they formed the core source of her strength. They were here family; her strength; her pillar of power. Her nieces and nephews, who were sitting in their parent’s laps, were just as important; most of them were less than 5 years old. She had fought to ensure their futures, their happiness. There were many other reasons, but her family was what mattered most.

Even as she stood there while others were receiving awards and medals of her own, the fact that she was there to see their smiles brought great joy, and a sense of satisfaction. Their continuing smiles would always continue to bring her happiness, especially in the years to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the parade, everyone had quickly gathered around Miyuki to ogle at her medal, offer their congratulations, or both. However, she had just wanted to spend her afternoon doing one thing: spend time with her family and finally show the kids her mobile suit. After years of fighting, she had finally been given the authorization to shower her suit to them; this afternoon only. Yet it seemed that her fellow pilots, along with everyone else, wanted to see her; it mattered not if it was to congratulate her or to examine her medal, they wanted to see her.

Questions upon questions were bombarded upon her in rapid successions that she had a hard time trying to keep up. It got to the point she was getting dizzy. With her family waiting for her at the hangar, she had no help whatsoever from anyone. She couldn’t even say a thing, or answer a question, because of how fast all the questions and statements were being spouted out.

“OI! Out of the way!” someone bellowed from behind, as a jeep rushed through the crowd. Pulling up, Miyuki let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her fellow wingman, or in their case, wing-woman, Kouzoki Kallen. Jumping in without a word, they quickly sped off towards the hangar with everyone else caught in the dust.

“Thanks,” Miyuki sighed, leaning back into her chair.

“Your family was getting worried,” Kallen explained, her eyes never leaving the road in front of her. “I told them to wait, and immediately came after you. And as usual, trouble seems to find you, no matter where you go.”

“Not always,” Miyuki protested.

“You don’t call an entire squadron’s worth of pilots and crew trouble?” Kallen countered, raising an eyebrow in amusement. Miyuki feel silent towards the jab, indicating her surrender to Kallen. It was a natural occurrence between the two of them to poke fun at one another until one became silent, admitting their defeat to the other. This had been going on between the two of them since their days as cadets in the academy, officer, and pilot school.

“Your kids are going to be quite beautiful, if your nieces and nephews are any indication,” Kallen commented, earning a question look from her passenger. “I mean think about it: the kids look adorable, and you and your sisters are all very good looking, and you girls seem to attract good looking men. What’s there to say except that you and your husband will produce good looking kids?” the statement ended up bringing a light blush to Miyuki’s face. Kallen smirked in amusement. She knew Miyuki just as well as her siblings and her husband, which also meant she knew how to push her buttons to get certain reactions out of her.

“Well, we’re here,” Kallen announced and parked the jeep.

“Want to come along?” Miyuki offered as they hopped out.

“Nah,” she replied, declining offer. “I need to do some maintenance on Guren anyways. Besides, this is your family time anyways.” Miyuki smiled brightly towards her before running off towards her family. Kallen smiled from behind, watching her best friend greet her family. Of all the pilots in Orb’s mobile suit force, Miyuki had gone the farthest. For that, for all she had accomplished, for what they as a gender group accomplished, she was proud to be her best friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wow!” the children exclaimed when they walked to the back of the hangar building. All of them quickly rushed up towards the massive mobile suit and looked up in awe at its magnificence. The imposing behemoth stood tall and proud in the afternoon sun, its crimson and white paint job gleamed in sunlight, with scaffolding keeping the machine in place as crews went about maintaining the machine, with a few looking down below in amusement at the sight of the unit’s pilot’s family.

“Come on up,” Miyuki called out, pointing towards the stairs that would lead up towards the cockpit level platform. She watched all of them immediately look towards the stairs before bolting straight for it and began the ascent up, as fast as their little legs could carry them, with a few of the older kids trying to keep up and keep them under control. Warnings were called out by their parents as they ran, but they paid no heed to their caution. They just wanted to get up there and see the cockpit; the throne where their aunt Miyuki sat and strode the battlefield in her engine of war. They had heard stories from whatever Miyuki had told them, but to see it in person was a whole new adventure for them. This wasn’t a chance they were going to pass up.

“Kids will always be kids,” Miyuki sighed, grabbing hold of the cable that would take her up directly to the cockpit. As she ascended, she could help but smile up at her mobile suit. Underneath its metal exterior was four years worth of blood, sweat, and love. She had put her soul into it; cleaning it, repairing it, upgrading it, she had put much into it. It was a part of her just as much as she was a part of it. It was an unchanging constant she took pride in. It was through this very mobile suit program that she was able to accomplish so much, when she first joined the military at the age of 16, received her commission and suit at 20, up until today. It was also how she was able to have met this Astray; it was the unit that she would eventually come to call it her second best friend, and eventually be given the name, Suzaku.

The year was Cosmic Era 66, a year of a continuing hostility. Amidst the unending hostilities between Naturals and Coordinators, amid the chaos of war, there stood the neutral nation of Orb Union. A small Pacific island nation, it was ruled by Chief Representative Uzumi Nara Athha, soon to be succeeded by his daughter, Cagalli Yula Athha. A neutral nation, it was also a haven for Naturals and Coordinators alike, where they could live their lives in peace, never having to worry about the dangers or prejudice held between them. Here they were safe. It was also home to two teenaged girls, Sashimaru Miyuki, and Kouzuki Kallen.

Isolated from the world beyond Orb, they sat a hill on Onogoro University campus that overlooked the island’s main military base. From there, they watched as the first intake of mobile suit pilots trained in Orb’s newest suits: the MBF-M1 Astray. The latest in Orb’s personal arsenal, the Astray was Orb’s only mobile suit force, backed up by the rest of Orb’s military. However, due to the fact the Astray was Orb’s first mobile suit, their knowledge of creating an appropriate Operating System was left to be desired.

“And there it goes again,” Kallen idly remarked as an Astray tripped yet again. For the last hour, they watched as the pilots tried to get their suits to move in a fluidic fashion, only to be given opposite results. Those who attempted to walk failed miserably as the blocky movements destabilized its balance, leaving them with suits that consistently tripped in an embarrassing fashion.

“Dumbasses,” Kallen remarked, running a hand through her red hair. Despite being of Japanese origin on her mother’s side, she was only half, gaining her red hair and cerulean eyes from her British father. Although formerly Stadtfeld, she took up her mother’s maiden name, Kouzuki, because her father wasn’t someone she wanted to be associated anymore for personal reasons. It was also for those reasons she often preferred to keep her hair styled, instead of keeping it neat and proper, unless the occasion called for it.

“They get the best engineers to design and build the Astray, but they couldn’t even come up with a decent operating system for Naturals.” One of the benefits from being friends with Miyuki was that she was the chief engineer’s daughter, giving Kallen access to some of the information that most people wouldn’t either be privy to, or would care about. In addition, she occasionally helped Miyuki’s father from time to time, which also benefitted her studies as in engineering. Despite her age, due to special circumstances and some accelerated courses and training, she was presently a university student majoring in engineering. And because of that, she virtually knew everything there was to know about the Astray.

Glancing over at her friend, she watched as Miyuki stared ahead with a lost expression on her face. Shoulder length hair dyed to a shade of brown, hazel eyes, small lips, and a cute button nose, she was presently off somewhere else in another world, where her mind focused on something aside from the topic at hand, much to Kallen’s annoyance.

“Oi, Miyuki,” she called out, tapping her friend’s head. “Wake up.”

“Hmm?” she responded, coming out from a thoughtful state.

“You didn’t hear a single word I said, did you?” Kallen asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” Miyuki sheepishly apologized. “Just a lot on my mind.”

“Such as?”

“Well…it’s about what my father said last week,” Miyuki answered, pulling her hair into a ponytail. “He was commenting how all of the selected pilots so far are all males. There were some female candidates who were recommended, but none of them were even considered beyond their initial recommendation.”

“What?!” Kallen screamed, feeling the insult she was sure the other candidates would feel.

“He was hinting he might bring this up to Cagalli-sama and request that she took part in the next round of pilot selection in a couple years when the last of them are produced,” Miyuki added, supporting her weight on her arms.

“Couple of years? Next round? What about the current set of suits we have?” Kallen asked, clearly now displeased of what was happening in terms of the lack of female pilots.

“They already picked the first fifty,” Miyuki explain. “Forty-nine are left to be completed, and hopefully with a new OS installed by then. When those units are ready to be released, then the next forty-nine will be chosen, completing Orb’s mobile suit force.”

A silence quickly befell them, leaving the two of them to their thoughts. Not really sure of what Kallen was thinking, Miyuki turned her attention back towards the mobile suits as they were hoisted up by cranes and placed back into their docks before being lowered onto trucks that were to transport them. They were some of Orb’s greatest creations, all of them having been built by her father by some extension. Now if they were only to be able to move as well as they should, she was sure that Orb would have a fine military if those units were to have a proper OS installed into their systems. However, such was that MS technology was still relatively new to Orb that they were still learning much of how to program their units. Although they were technologically ahead of ZAFT’s current line of MS, if the OS wasn’t up to par with theirs, then there was no chance that they would be able to even fight off a GiNN, much less a training model.

Sighing to herself, she watched as the trainees walked into the hangers, most likely to change out of their pilot suits and back into whatever it was they usually wore. Although curious as to what kind of training they had to go through to master the current OS, she didn’t care too much to attempt to learn how to pilot one of the machines herself. It wasn’t that she disliked it; she just felt she had no reason to get into the cockpit of those machines. It would most likely be a waste of resources, since she wasn’t using those machines to do anything save to have it waste energy and munitions.

“Well then…we don’t have any time to lose,” Kallen suddenly declared, bounding to her feet.

“Eh?” Miyuki responded in surprise, confused as to what Kallen meant.

“It’s so simple,” Kallen stated all the while wearing a big grin on her face. “We join the military and become an Astray pilot!”

“What are you saying?!” Miyuki asked, even more surprised at Kallen’s idea. “Do you even know what you’re suggesting?! Joining the military is a major career choice! You can’t just up and decide to join!”

“What do you mean? Of course I can,” Kallen replied. “I mean c’mon, what reason is there not to? You’re paid by the government to defend the country, and you get benefits from it too, the family gets as well. Plus, this would be a perfect chance for me to show those sexist bastards why we females are not to be messed around with. I’ll show them that we can be mobile suit pilots just like them. I’ll score so much higher that they would be nuts not to pick me!”

“Kallen…”

“Miyuki, you know how I feel when it comes to sexism,” Kallen sighed settling back down next to her friend. “I’m not particularly fond of how women get second-rate jobs or assignments. I mean look at Cagalli-sama! She’s the younger one between her and her twin brother Kira-sama, but because she’s proven to be the better of them, she’s going to become our leader! This world needs more women who can meet the challenge and be just as strong as males!

“C’mon, join me on this,” Kallen urged her friend, fire gleaming in her eyes. “This is a perfect chance for you and me to make a stand, and make a difference. Together, you and I could prove to them that even females can pilot your dad’s greatest work.”

Miyuki regarded her friend for some time before answering, “I’ll…I’ll think about it. But promise me that you’ll think about this, and ask your mum about this. I don’t want to join become you thought that this was some kind of game only to end up getting killed later.”

The walk home from Kallen’s school to home was held in relative silence, lost in their own thoughts once again. Letting her thoughts continue, she felt a little bothered by what Kallen wanted them to do. Although Kallen was by no means a hot head, she was very persistent when she had a goal in mind. In this case, it was her desire to join the military. But at the very least, she had something to prove by joining the military, which would hopefully evolve into something else. But as for her, she had no real business with the military. Although it was true that she could follow Kallen and prove to a lot of people of what she could do as a female pilot, she didn’t even know what she would do with her commission in the military. What did she have to fight for? If she didn’t have anything to fight for except because it was her duty as a soldier of Orb, she wanted to be in the military for something else that she could take personal value in.

“Ne, Kallen are you sure that proving that females can pilot is a good enough reason to join?” Miyuki asked.

“Are you kidding me?!” Kallen asked, taken aback by the question. “I’d be nuts to go in with that.”

“Then…why are you doing this?”

“Well…I have my reasons,” Kallen vaguely stated, blatantly avoiding the question. However, Miyuki recognized a particular look in her eyes, and it answered her question right then and there. If it was for that reason, she had a feeling that it would evolve into something either more constructive, or something destructive. However, she hoped that it would be the former. If the latter were to occur, she would probably have to step in to prevent it from getting really bad.

“I’ll see you later,” said Kallen when they approached a fork on the road.

“Yeah have a good weekend,” Miyuki replied, giving her friend a wave.

“You too,” said Kallen, returning the gesture and started down on a different direction home.

Turning back to the path in front of her, Miyuki continued on. Although the idea seemed a bit rash, she at least felt that Kallen had actually considered this particular choice for a long time. She just hoped that she made a right choice, since this would be quite a career choice for someone her age. And then she began to wonder to herself if joining the military was a good career choice for her. Joining the military would most likely be a hard life, especially with the way the world was, and she wondered if she was cut out for it. As a soldier of Orb, she would be required to answer the call of duty and go to battle or war should Orb ever mobilize its military forces for battle. She wondered if she could honestly have that sort of life as her job life, for a good portion of her life.

As her home came into view, her mood picked up considerably. It was a simple three-story house, but it was her favourite place to be. Having lived there since she was born in that very building, she had many fond memories growing up there.

Approaching the door, she pulled out her keys and unlocked the door and entered while calling out the customary, “Tadaima.” Closing the door behind her, she slipped her shoes off in exchange for a pair of slippers.

“Okaeri, Ki-chan,” someone called back in return.

“Where’s otou-san and okaa-san?” Miyuki asked, heading towards the stairs in front of the door.

“Otou-san is going to be home late, and okaa-san is with Hayate-nee-chan and Shirou-chan,” the same person replied.

“When did she arrive?” Miyuki asked back, stopping midway up the stairs.

“This morning,” the person replied. “They’ll be back for dinner.”

“Okay,” Miyuki answered back and headed up to her room on the second floor. Dropping her bag onto her desk, she let her weight carry her down onto her bed and stared at a picture on her nightstand. Taken earlier in the year, it was of her entire family, including her mother and favour, her three older sisters, Hayate, Emi, and Yomi, Hayate’s husband and son, Adam and Shirou, and a few other relatives Miyuki didn’t really remember.

Her father was one of the senior engineers for Morgenrote, Inc., the company that built Orb’s Astray force. Her mother was a flouriest, often known to grow a fair portion of her stocks at home. The eldest, Hayate age 27, was married and had a son, and worked with their father in the same corporation, but instead was part of the team that designed, and now improving the current Natural-OS for the Astray. The second, Emi who’s two years younger, had moved out the previous year and presently lived on Heliopolis, also as a MS developer for Morgenrote. Yomi, age 20, still lived at home, finishing her 3rd year of university. As for Miyuki, the youngest at 16, she was a high school freshman who was about to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.

“Baka-Kallen,” she muttered. The best words to describe her friend were tenacious and ambitious. When she sets her mind on a particular goal, she would pursue it until she saw it through. Her persistence saw her breezing through high school and entered university at age 16. It also got her recognized as one of the top 10 students in her graduation class. She was ever hardly swayed from her goal for too long. If she realized she was starting to fall behind, she’d always redouble her efforts to catch up, and then go the extra mile. This method always ended with her completing more than she had ever planned, and she always would reap the benefits of her labours in many ways, depending on what she had accomplished.

“I swear, you’ll be the death of me,” Miyuki complained, rolled onto her back, and stared at the skylight above her bed. The sky was still pleasantly orange with the afternoon wind gently blow through the open window above her desk. Wanting to take her mind off Kallen for now, she decided to focus on a more important task: her homework and studies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner had been a simple affair. Once her mother and sister were home, she, Hayate and Shirou, Yomi, and their mother sat down for dinner prepared by Yomi. Light words were exchanged between one another, catching up on what has happened in each other’s lives, current events, anything that came to mind, or listening to Shirou trying to talk about his day at pre-school with what little Japanese he knew. Miyuki particularly enjoyed it as she watched her little nephew struggle for words and phrases to express what he felt. Watching him made her wonder how truly oblivious to the world he was and those his age, to live in such a blissful ignorance. She somewhat envied them (at least until they really started to grow up.) When her father eventually came home, she knew that it was now or never.

With a heavy sigh, she drew the attention of her parents. “Otou-san, okaa-san, there’s something I need to talk about.” Sensing the seriousness in her voice, Hayate and Yomi quickly ushered Shirou out of the kitchen while her parents sat down on either side of her and listened.

“Kallen’s thinking about joining the military, and she wants me to go with her,” she explained. She watched her parents to gauge what kind of reaction they had to the news. She had been expecting surprise, possibly apprehension of their daughter joining the military.

However, when they glanced up at one another, they shared a peculiar look at one another that looked something akin to relief. That seemed quite peculiar to her, which hinted strongly at the possibility they were hiding something from her. It soon became apparent that they were not making an effort to make eye contact or say anything, which started to bother her. There was something up between them, but she just didn’t know what to make of it. All that she could do was to wait and see what her parents had to say about the situation.

“Miyuki,” her father finally said, breaking the silence, “I was actually going to talk to you about that.” Giving her father a surprised look, she watched him pull out an envelope and placed it in front of her. “It’s from the government.” He said nothing more and waited.

Reaching out, she picked up the envelope and undid the wax seal, and pulled out the letter inside. Already she could tell that someone had taken extra measure for her, considering that it bore the Athha’s personal crest, and the letter itself, which was addressed to her, was hand written.

Dear Sashimaru Miyuki,

I know this is somewhat odd for this letter to be coming from me, but I feel that this is appropriate for what I wish to talk about.

I’m hereby formally inviting you to take part in an experimental program to test the feasibility of female mobile suit pilots. It has been brought to my attention that our current roster is all males, and I would like to be able to change that. Therefore, you among 49 select women who will train to become both officers of Orb’s military, and as one of our 99 Astray pilots. There would be many benefits that you could gain from this program. However, that is besides the point of this letter.

As I’ve said, this is an odd request. However, I write this in hopes that I can at least interest you in flying with Orb, bearing its banner proudly should the need for us to defend ourselves arise.

And I need to stress this out: I am asking you, not forcing you to join.

Please have your answer e-mailed to the attached address by the end of the week. If not, I will assume that you have said no, and I will move on to the next candidate.

However, should you accept, I hope you do well in the program, and that I have the pleasure of meeting you in person where I will be personally award you your wings on the day of your graduation.

Yours truly,

Cagalli Yula Athha

Miyuki was stunned. Of all things she could’ve expected from such a letter, this was nowhere on her list. For minutes, she read and reread the letter over and over again, making sure that it wasn’t a mistake or some cruel practical joke that was being played on her. But no matter how many times she read it, there was no hint of malice or deceit in the letter. The letter was genuine, extending an invitation for her to join the military and become one of its pilots, completed with Cagalli’s unique and complicated signature.

“You fit the profile,” her father answered. “Candidates were chosen based on their background, school results, and physical fitness. You were one of a hundred candidates. You ranked in the top forty-nine. But,” he trailed off, as he struggled to say something that was on his mind.

“But?” she asked, urging her father to continue.

“I recommended you for the position,” he blurted out, much to Miyuki’s surprise.

“What?!”

“Well…she had asked if I had anyone in mind…I recommended you…and Kallen as well.”

Miyuki’s eyes widened, surprised at the mention of her friend’s name. “Kallen-chan as well?”

“Yes,” he nervously answered, hoping that his daughter wasn’t too angry, disappointed, or anything of the sort. “She was actually at the top of the list, which I found out later. And if what you’ve just told us is any indication, she’s going to join.”

“She probably would,” Miyuki wryly stated. “She was talking about joining anyways when I told her about the lack of female pilots…”

“Do you want to do this?” Miyuki’s mother asked, hoping to cut off Miyuki before she decided to turn on her father for being recommended behind her back.

“This is…this is a bit much,” she admitted. “I mean…here I was going to talk about what Kallen asked me to do, and then suddenly you dump an official invitation to join Orb’s ranks, on dad’s recommendation. I don’t really know what to make of this.”

“Take your time on this,” her mother stated, holding Miyuki’s hand. “Think about what you want first. Your father and I, your sisters, friends, Kallen, we will all have our opinion on the matter. But this is your decision. If you accept this, you have to want to do this, or at least have something worth while you could gain from this. This isn’t a draft, so think on this carefully.”

“Yeah…” she sighed. “I think I’ll turn in early and think on this in the morning.” Kissing her parents good night, she made her way back upstairs again towards her room, but not before shooting her father another annoyed glance.

“Orb must be getting ready,” Yomi commented from her hiding spot, once she was sure Miyuki was gone.

“Yes,” her father sighed, massaging his temples. “Some of the representatives feel that the Earth Alliance might move against us, and has recommended a 4-year plan to reinforce Orb’s defences.”

The following morning came too soon for the girl. Lying in bed, she read the letter again. Mentally she weighed in her mind what was more important. There was the chance to serve her nation. Also, she had a chance to show that even females were more than capable of becoming mobile suit pilots like their male counterparts. There were also various other benefits that could come with becoming a pilot and officer of Orb, but she wasn’t too keen on them. There was the fact that she might be called out for months at a time to be on active duty and not be able to be close to home where she could be with her family whenever she wanted. Then there was the fact that with the state of the world as it was, she was more than likely to see bloodshed and violence. The idea didn’t sit too well with her, but she knew that most people who joined were more than aware of the choice they made and were prepared for it.

“What am I going to do…” she muttered.

“Shouldn’t the question be, ‘What do I want to do’?”

Glancing up at the door, she saw her sister leaning against the doorway of her bedroom door. “Hey Hayate-nee-chan.”

“You seem to be having a predicament,” Hayate commented from the door.

“I’ve been asking myself that since I woke up but I can’t find an answer that I can agree on.”

“Hmm…” Hayate muttered to herself for a moment. “If you ask my opinion, I’d join to protect Shirou’s future. The world’s changing everyday and everyday war looms over us. I don’t want Shirou to grow up without me because of some battle, but I couldn’t live with myself if I had this chance and squandered it only to end up living in war torn, or 3rd world Orb. I just couldn’t. I don’t want Shirou to grow up in that kind of world. I’d do whatever takes to make sure that he grows up happy, in a free world. And it wouldn’t just be him, I’d also do it pave the way for his generation, and for future generations.”

“That’s quite deep, nee-chan,” Miyuki commented.

“Well if you think about it, this war between the PLANTS and Earth has destroyed so many futures on either side. I don’t want Orb’s children to be affected as well.

“I envy you though, Miyuki. I honestly do. You have here a chance to do something, something incredibly big. Please…don’t squander this chance…make a clear choice. Don’t half-ass this, and end up getting killed because you made a bad decision.”

Having gotten up, showered and changed, Miyuki found herself sitting on the couch watching the TV, but her mind was still on the question at hand: Yes or No. That was what her situation broke down to. She wanted to join the military and accomplish something, or she did not want to join. But the more she thought about, the more frustrated she became. The answer just wasn’t coming to her. The more she struggled for the answer, the further away the answer slipped away from her.

“Ki-nee-san!” Glancing in front of her, she watched as her nephew waddled up to her, stopping in front of her and started to play with her knees with his hands as if they were drums with a big toothy grin plastered across his face.

“Ki-nee-san play with Shirou,” he declared, climbed onto the couch, clambered over so he was behind her, and started to push her off the bed.

“Hey, easy there kiddo,” Miyuki giggled, playfully resisting the child. Soon enough the room was filled with their laughter as an odd game of tug-of-war ensued between them, with Shirou trying to push Miyuki off the seat while she tried to defend it.

“Off! Get off!” he tittered while struggling to push her off.

“But I don’t want to,” Miyuki whined playfully, when suddenly his head entered her vision. Soon enough, his body followed as his attempts to his entire body weight failed and ended up vaulting him over Miyuki’s shoulder. Taking advantage of the situation, she quickly caught him in her arms and began a merciless tickle assault on the poor boy. His giggles grew uncontrollable throughout her vicious assault. There was no mercy for the boy as she dominated him through her tickles.

“Okaa-san! Okaa-san!” Hayate yelled, running through the living room and out the backdoor.

Wondering what her sister was yelling about, she picked up the boy in her arms. “C’mon, let’s see what your mama’s talking about, okay?”

“Mama, mama!” the boy gleefully cried out.

“Miyuki, I just got a letter from Emi,” Hayate declared, storming back into the room with their mother in tow. Bee lining straight for the DVD player, she turned it on and placed a disk that had been in her hand on the tray. Glancing back to see that Miyuki and their mother were seated, and Yomi having just came in to see what the noise was about, she pushed the play button and sat down in between them and watched as the image of the 2nd eldest sister came into view.

“Hey everyone,” Yomi greeted, “hope you’ve been well. There’s a lot I want to say, but I’ll keep this message to two things. First of all, I’ve been transferred back down to Earth. I’ll be back home in about a month. Second of all,” her grinned widened further when she raised her left hand, “I’m engaged!” The room immediately broke out into squeals and gasps of surprise, with Shirou look at everyone in confusion, wondering what the excitement was about. “I’d introduce him to you, but I’ll let you guys meet him in person and have you guys pass judgement then. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time left on this tape it seems, so I’ll just leave it to: I love you all, I miss you, and I’m looking forward to seeing you guys soon. See you guys in a month! I’ll call before I head out.” The recording then ended.

“Emi-nee-chan is coming home!” Yomi declared, hopping up and down in glee.

“Mi-nee-san! Mi-nee-san!” Shirou declared, flailing his arms around in glee.

“Your father’s probably is going to be ecstatic when he finds out,” their mother commented, opting to smile brightly instead of the state of joy and excitement that her daughters seemed to have gone for.

Even in her excitement, Miyuki watched her family. She watched how everyone was smiling so brightly. Here they were, leaving in a peaceful world where they had the luxury to be able to smile, to jump in joy, to dance, to celebrate various events, while in other parts of the world, they didn’t have that joy, that luxury, because the world those people lived in was ravaged and destroyed by the war between the Naturals and Coordinators. Then it came to her: she didn’t want to see those smiles to go away. She wanted to be able to come home to these smiles: ones that were true, and free of sadness and depression that was associated with war.

“I…I think I know why now,” she decided, earning confused stares from everyone. “I want to see you guys smile everyday like this. I want to come home, and know that you guys are smiling, because you’re happy. I’ll do what I can, to protect that smile.”

“So, you’re going to go ahead with it?” her mother asked.

“I’ve decided,” Miyuki asserted. “This is what I want to do, both for why I fight, and also as my career choice. I’ll be a soldier of Orb.”

You seem to forget that 'Marie' says that she's still Soma. The only thing that's different is that she's gotten her memories back of both her past and Al. She's still the same character otherwise...couple of tweaks aside.

You seem to forget that 'Marie' says that she's still Soma. The only thing that's different is that she's gotten her memories back of both her past and Al. She's still the same character otherwise...couple of tweaks aside.

She's not hardass anymore. Soma was hardass. Ergo, Marie is not Soma in the same way Allelujah isn't a mass-murdering psychopath, even if she has all the same momories.

I'm somewhat disappointed at the lack of responses, but I suppose that there are lurkers out there so I'll post anyways.

Spoiler for Chapter II:

Soldier of OrbChapter II

“Well, here we are,” Kallen declared as she and Miyuki unloaded their luggage from the trunk of her mother’s car.

“Yeah,” Miyuki sighed, setting down her luggage and pulling on her backpack.

The last month had been rather hectic for them. After Miyuki had given her answer and Kallen had informed her of her own decision, which not surprisingly was a definite yes, her father promptly sent hers and Kallen’s answers straight to Cagalli, and had the applications to them within two days. They filled out the applications and had them mailed in where the process took only a couple weeks. During that waiting period, the two of them went about obtaining their transcripts and any other additional paperwork that would be required for when they transferred to Onogoro Military College where they would complete education. The time had also been spent letting their teachers and friends know of the transfer, and to say goodbye and the like.

It had been a stressful two weeks. It was also during that time that she also had to pack in preparation for the move to the base. Saying goodbye to her friends hadn’t been as bad as she had thought, but she would miss them nonetheless. She just hoped that she would be given time off to relax and be able to actually leave the base and spend time with her friends and family. Eventually, she had received her authorization to enter the base, and also a set of paperwork that her father told her was her ‘movement orders,’ a military term to describe the paperwork that outlined what would occur from the time she left home to the point that she arrived onto the base. She had read it through from end to end, and eventually had an idea of what was to occur.

The first thing that was mentioned on the order was that two weeks after she received it, she was to head to the base and headed to one of the hangers where she would do registration and other such preliminaries and would be given a chance to settle down before finally beginning class.

Prior to arriving, everyone had met at Miyuki’s house to say goodbye and wish her the best of luck. Lucky for her, her sister Emi had arrived the night prior and was also there to see her off, albeit begrudgingly claiming that Miyuki had planned this all nicely just so that she left when Emi arrived, in good nature of course. Overall, it had been a simple affair for the family. They had simply wished her luck, gave her a few hugs of support, settled down Shirou who had been sad and confused believe that she was leaving for ever when she was simply moving across town, and then carpooled with Kallen to the base. Now they stood at the gates of Onogoro Military College where their fate, and their future, awaited them.

“Well then, let’s get settled shall we?” said Kallen.

“Yeah…”

“Good luck girls,” Kallen’s mother called out from the car.

“Thanks okaa-san,” Kallen called back giving her a wave. “I’ll write you.” After a final bid of farewell, her mother drove off leaving them to their own devices. Grapping their bags, they set off to the main gate where a pair of armed guards stood ready with their weapons.

“Do you have authorization?” one of the guards asked when they approached the gate. Given their papers, he quickly examined them ensuring everything was in order, and then handed them a set of directions to the building they were required to wait in, and a pass to allow them access onto the base.

“So what do you think the process is going to be like?” Kallen asked, following the route that was written on the map.

“Probably a lot of logistical paperwork,” Miyuki answered, starting to list off various things that came off to mind. “They’ll take in our paperwork, search our belongings for anything possibly illegal, have us do some registration, probably get our measurements for uniforms, tell us what class or group we’re in, maybe a speech or two in between, and then sent to our rooms to settle down. We’ll probably have lunch in between all of that.”

“Anything beyond that?” she asked. “Because it sounds like it’ll only last until about late afternoon.”

“Oh yeah…I forgot about that,” Kallen muttered. Glancing at the map, she took a turn at the appropriate intersection and carried on. “I wonder what kind of food they have here…”

“Probably something that can at least be called food,” Miyuki answered casually. “It’s military food, not some sort of special dinner or something.”

“And do you HAVE to rationalize everything?” Kallen deadpanned.

“What is there not to rationalize?” Miyuki countered, smiling in amusement at Kallen’s apparent discomfort. “This is the military after all.” Kallen’s response was a sullen look of defeat at the irrefutable logic she was bringing forth to the table. Despite the fact Miyuki was simply pointing out the obvious, it was still a cold hard slap of reality that she just didn’t want to deal with.

“You and your logic,” Kallen muttered and walked through a door with indications for the new recruits to enter. A low whistle quickly passed through her lips as they walked in. “Now THIS is what I call a hangar!” she immediately declared to Miyuki. Lining the side walls of the hangar, held in a perfect, neat, and orderly formation, were Orb’s Astray units. Painted primarily in white with red accents, and a black chest plate, they gleamed pristinely in the low light, each one of them bearing Orb’s flag on their right shoulder. To be in their presence was a pleasant surprise for Kallen. They were the embodiment of Orb’s hope of never having to ever use them. They were also the epitome of Orb’s technological advancement in both computers and weapons technology. Armed with advanced computer systems and hardware, and the best weapons the military had to offer, they were a weapon of extreme precision, if it were in the right hands.

“Never had a chance to see a completed one up close before,” Kallen commented, eying the machines.

Paying little heed, Miyuki looked around the hangar and noticed three girls off to the side talking to one another, with luggage of their own nearby. Pointing them out to Kallen, they made their way down at a leisurely pace. Walking in relative silence, they watched crews and technicians perform their duties and tasks with precision and efficiency, covering everything that was required of them and more. On one unit, technicians had dismantled the armour plating of the unit’s head and were performing maintenance as well as loading up ammunition for the twin-linked CWIS Igellstellungs mounted on their heads. On another unit, an arm had been completely detached from the main body along with its chest plate, exposing the delicate intricacies of its internal workings where crews worked performing whatever was required of them for the moment.

“Quite the crew,” Kallen commented again.

“Yeah…”

“It’s impressive, isn’t it?” one of the three girls stated. The girl who had spoken to them stood before them with her weight shifted on one leg with a hand resting on her raised hip. Golden blond hair that flared out the back of her head, sapphire blue eyes that gleamed as brightly as the sun, and a steeled face of leadership, the girl presented herself as someone who wasn’t to be taken lightly, a leader of sorts, one who was still unrefined and unpolished.

“These Astray’s are going to be Orb’s ticket to victory,” she confidently stated.

“And who might you be?” Kallen asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Asagi Caldwell,” she asserted before turning to introduce her friends, “Juli Wu Nien and Mayura Labbatt.” Both girls nodded in greetings.

“My mum is also part of the engineering team that built the Astray,” she explained. “So I suppose you and I are kind of like rivals.”

“If you say so,” Miyuki chuckled, accepting the proffered hand. “Although I don’t know what we would exactly compete for…”

“Top cadet, top drill, top bunk, top marks, that sort of thing,” Asagi stated, earning sighs of indignation from her two friends.

“Is she like this?” Kallen asked Juli and Mayura, raising an eyebrow and pointing towards the blonde.

“Yeah she is,” Mayura answered, shaking her head in disappointment. Running her hands through her short hazel hair, her cobalt eyes stared at Asagi in both amusement and embarrassment. “Sometimes I have to ask myself why am I friends with someone like her.”

“Hey, I resent that,” Asagi called out, reached over and whacked Mayura across the head.

“Oi,” Mayura screamed, rubbing the spot where she was hit. “That was unnecessary.”

“Well I could say the same thing about you questioning our friendship,” she countered scathingly, albeit lacking the venom or malice to back her words.

“Guys, guys,” Juli pleaded, panic spreading across her face. “Can we not argue?” Between the three, Kallen and Miyuki noted almost immediately that she seemed to be the reserved and demure member of their group. Azure hair that reached down to her shoulders, amber orbs framed by a pair of pink glasses, she looked like she was more of a straggler of the group, someone they had picked up and had taken into the fold.

“Aw c’mon Juli, you know it’s in good fun,” Asagi assured, rubbing the top of her head. Juli simply sighed and resigned herself to be belittled in such a childish manner, while Mayura giggled at her predicament. Unfortunately, her height also served as a source of entertainment since she only reached the shoulders of the other two, and apparently, also Miyuki. To Kallen, however, she was slightly put off that she barely reached her chest height.

“It happens when we’ve known each other since we were five,” Juli sighed in annoyance instead of nostalgia. “They seem to like making fun of me a lot.”

“Well you are the cute one between us two hotties,” Asagi gleefully commented, wrapping an arm around Juli’s shoulder.

“Asagi…”

“Oh c’mon, you know you love us,” Asagi continued on while wearing a wide grin across her face. “We’ve been together for so long this shouldn’t be any bother to you.”

“But…but…”

“That’s a good Juli,” Mayura sighed, cuddling the girl, much to her chagrin.

The morning continued on like this for some time with the five of them interacting with one another, and getting to know each other as additional girls began to trickle in. Most came by themselves or in small groups, save for the last 30 or so who came in larger groups as they had arrived from the other islands that composed Orb. Eventually, the mass of 49 candidates were gathered and present, quietly waiting for what was to happen next. Very quickly though, groups were being formed between the girls, which worried some of the mechanics and technicians that believed that it might be the beginnings of cliques that would last throughout the four years. The last thing that they needed was the camaraderie to degrade into in-fighting because of the varying cliques. Whoever their CO was, they hoped that he or she would be able to nip the issue at the bud and end it very quick.

“Quite a few cliquish girls we’ve got here,” Kallen noted as her eyes darted back and forth in between all the various girls and groups that they had formed as they all got to know one another. Unfortunately, it looked like it was turning into the making of what looked like a standard high school type of cliques where it would eventually create the line of the “have” and “have not,” which she swore that if it happened then heads were going to be bashed; court martial or expulsion be damned. Among the things that she wouldn’t stand for, girls who were stuck-up and snobbish because they believed that they were truly better than everyone was on the list.

Soon enough, a troop of officers marched into the hangar, approached the girls and quickly whipped them into a neat orderly fashion. Not wasting time, the officers immediately started with a thorough baggage check along with the approval of their paperwork. As each girl had her paperwork checked and baggage approved, she was issued a new pass that contained various information, and were sent to the next station which involved having their pictures taken for their ID, and their measurements taken for their uniform. Following that, they spoke with an officer handing who gave them papers that listed off their barrack house, room, and the squad they were assigned to. In between all of this, at some point they had been taken to the nearby mess hall where they were fed lunch, and then herded back to the hangar where they completed the rest of the registration.

Throughout all of this, Miyuki had watched as everything worked like clockwork. Each station, each transition, it had occurred in a smooth, concise, organized manner. Everything that the officers had to do, they performed their duties with extreme efficiency, akin to a well oiled machine. Their statements and remarks were clipped, clear, and concise, leaving no room for possible errors or misinterpretations. When a question was asked, it was a direct question, lacking the vagueness of bureaucracy. She also noted that for everything they did, there was a specific methodology that they followed that allowed everything to run so smoothly between the officers. And on top that, the fact that they were able to maintain a steady calm and discipline, and also be able to control all 49 of the newcomers showed the sort of discipline training they’ve had. Even as they had light conversations with each other discussing about whatever came to mind, they never lost the track or the speed they had maintained. It was quite surprising to Miyuki.

Finally everything was completed leaving everyone continue sitting in a corner of the hangar by their luggage and waited. Left alone to their devices, they were told that they were to meet their commanding officer prior to being dispersed to their barracks, where they would spend the next four years living in. And as they waited, mechanics and technicians around them started to clean up for the day. Tools were being put away, spare parts stored and then secured, and any components that were removed from the suits were either put back into place or were stored where further work would be conducted the following morning.

“Or maybe, she’s someone who knows what to do?” a new voice declared, drawing everyone’s attention towards a brand new officer. Marching proudly in her uniform, the new officer approached the group with an air of confidence and command around her. Flanked by other officers, it created the air of a reviewing party who was prepared to inspect her troops prior to combat. And in a sense, it was true considering that they were about to meet those who would be under their charge for the next four years.

Crimson hair held back in a tight ponytail, slate-grey eyes that commanded respect, a steeled face of beauty hiding a powerful inner strength within, she was a walking embodiment of what a soldier, and an officer of Orb was: respectable, confident, someone who commanded respect, and a leader. Her status was only further accented with the various medals and ribbons that adorned above her right breast pocket.

Halting before the congregation, she took a moment to survey the group before drawing up on her full height. Despite the fact she looked no bigger than 5’8”, her presence felt more like a person of 6’. “I’m army Major Colwell Asagi. I will be your CO from now, until the day you decide to transfer out of the Astray program. Not only am I your course CO, I am also the Commanding Officer of the 101st Mobile Unit, Tsukiyoumi. You will undergo my training program, which will include whatever schooling that you are to complete prior to your transfer, your basic training, your familiarization training, or fam-flights, aboard Astrays, and your weapons training, among other things.

“Here are a few simple rules I will lay out for you ladies:

One: Don’t screw around. This is the military. We aren’t here to be all cuddly or lovey-dovey. We are here to prepare you for the possibility of war.

Two: Follow all of my instructions, as well as those of your flight staff, and your officers. This leads back to rule one of not screwing around. Listen to our commands, and everything will be fine. Disobey, and you may find yourself being sent to your superiors, or straight home.

Three: Observe all the rules and regulations laid out by our standards. There are ways you handle and carry yourselves, be it here on base, or out there in the real world. Whether you’re in uniform or not, there should be ways you conduct yourselves accordingly. You ladies are all officers to be. Everyone will know that, especially since you will all be bearing the squadron banner on your uniforms very soon. You are the role models. This base is also home to all the new recruits who are joining our armed forces as enlisted men. They will see you as officers, and if you screw up or carry yourself in appropriately, not only you make yourself look bad, but you make the officer corps as a whole look bad.”

Asagi took a moment to examine the cadets in front of her. She smirked in amusement, glad that she had captured their attention. Hardly a breath was made, and neither did a twitch ripple in the ocean of new recruits. She had most definitely captured their attention. Eventually she would have these people whipped into shape and have them giving her the proper respect. Her second goal was to hopefully whip the unit into shape once it integrated everything and became an active unit.

“Now before I let you go, I will explain how the groupings work out. All of you have been broken down into four flights: Red, Blue, Gold, and Green flight. Three of you are a unit of 12, one of you a unit of 13. When you graduate, you will be integrated with the active flights with the same names. You will get chances to meet members of your flights from the active roster in due time. When you complete your training through this program, you will be integrated into your flights, and become part of the 101st Mobile Unit, Tsukiyoumi. More details will be explained at another time, but suffice it to say that you will be eventually teamed up with your male counterparts. I trust that you will conduct yourselves accordingly, and in addition, show our male counterparts that we are just as effective as they can be.

“Each of the four flights will be given a flight commander, a flight sergeant, and two sergeants who will be your flight staff. You will train as flights, compete as flights, eat as flights, and sleep together as flights. Each flight is assigned a specific section of the two barrack blocks assigned to you, where you will spend your nights, evenings, and personal time, although you will not be restricted to your barracks unless deemed so.

“That is all for now. Dismiss.” Clicking their heels in quick and precise motions, the officers who had stood on either side of her came to life and quickly gathered the girls into their four groups and took them out of the hangers and out in different directions.

“Good luck ladies,” Asagi stated. “This is the start of your career. Don’t screw up.” Satisfied that her point was made, she turned and left the hangar leaving her officers to deal with them.

“Well then, this is where we go our separate ways,” Kallen sighed, patting her friend on the back. “You’d better not screw up because I’m not there.”

“I could say the same thing,” Miyuki answered back, pulling her friend into a hug. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kallen muttered before running off to join the rest of Blue flight, who were waiting for Green flight to join them.

Grabbing her bags, Miyuki turned and followed Asagi, Juli, and Mayura with the rest of Gold and Red flights. The walk towards their barracks was relatively short, and soon she found herself standing in front of the barrack building they were to be living in. The building stood three stories high, its matt green paintjob seemingly sneered at them. Its walls seemed to laugh at the idea that they were to live within its walls for the next four years, possibly even insulting them. Unfortunately, it also seemed to radiate an aura of un-cleanliness. This was accentuated with stains that ran down the walls, patches of mould, peeling paint, and even rust, among other things that sullied the building. It bothered the girls greatly. None of them were looking forward to spending the next four years in what looked like to be a pigsty.

Entering, despite the dirty, dilapidated appearance from outside, the walls gleamed pristinely. Whitewashed walls, polished linoleum, glowing fluorescent lighting, it was the epitome of cleanliness and efficiency. Not a single smear or smudge marred the walls. State of the art equipment filled the various offices they passed on the main floor before being led up a flight of stairs. There they saw more of the white. It both unnerved them and also relived them at the sight of how clean everything was. Nothing was out of place. Order ruled everywhere they walked as they gathered around the officer who led them in.

“Look around ladies, these will be your rooms for the duration of your stay,” the officer indicated. “This entire floor is dedicated to you ladies. There are facilities to meet your hygienic needs, as well as for your laundry. Each door will have your name plates already attached to them. You are sleeping in pairs. For now, until you are familiarized with the layout of the base, you are asked to remain within the confines of this barracks. There are rules and regulations for how your rooms, and barracks are to be maintained, as well as the dos and don’ts when you’re in the barracks. They are posted in your barracks. For now, get yourselves settled in and get to know your roommates. At 1800 hours, report outside for dinner. You will be escorted down.” Offering a bright smile, she wished them luck in their training for the next four years, and left leaving them to their devises. Dispersing, the girls travelled the length of the hallway and looked around. Finding their rooms, they pulled their personal belongings in and set about making themselves at home.

Walking down the hallway, she looked left and right for her name. As the numbers flashed by, 209, 210, 211, she read the names of those who would be her flight-mates, along with squadron-mates. Although knowing that there was no way she would be able to memorize them right away, she figured that it was best to at least have an idea of what were the names of those whom she would be spending the next four years with. She eventually found her room, 218, with her name plate written in Japanese text with her Romanized name just below it in English text. Below that was the name plate of her roommate: Mackenzie Christina, written in both katakana and English. Opening the door, she found herself in a relatively small room.

It was a two-person suite, but even then it was small, and quite simple. Tucked into one corner was a bunk bed, while in another was a couple of desks for the two of them. Lastly, the last wall was a massive closet for the two of them to store their clothes, what most likely would be their uniforms as well. Taking a look at the bunk bed in relation to the seat height, she sighed that it was tall enough that if she or her roommate wanted, they could sit comfortably on it without fear of hitting their head. The same could be said about the bottom bunk, at the very least. Whoever slept below would be able to get up and not have to worry about hitting their head.

Seeing that Christina wasn’t in yet, she pulled her belongings in and began to unpack everything that she would most likely need for the first night: a change of underwear, soap, shampoo, possibly some sleeping clothes, and other few random things she felt like storing inside her closet or on her bed.

A knocking drew her attention towards the door. Standing in the doorway was who she hoped to be Christina. “Are you Sashimaru-san?” she asked, somewhat struggling with her Japanese

“Come in, come in,” Miyuki beckoned. Miyuki watched as Christina pulled in her bag and set it down at the foot of their bunk bed. “What language do you speak more comfortably?” she asked immediately, recognising Christina’s difficulty in the language.

“English,” she answered. Miyuki grimaced at the mention of the language. She unfortunately knew nothing of the language. “I guess we’ll have to stick to Japanese. If you could slow down a bit, I’ll understand most of it.”

“I guess we’ll have to work with that,” Miyuki sighed, and regarded the new girl for a moment. Rouge hair that reached down to about the middle of her back, emerald eyes that gazed back at her, she had a rather odd air around her. It felt vaguely familiar to her, but she just couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She decided to put it at the back of her mind for now and get to know her roommate.

“So…what brings you here?” she asked casually.

“Pardon me?” Christina asked, blinking somewhat in surprise.

“Uh…I meant why you joined the program,” Miyuki clarified, smiling a bit sheepishly forgetting that there was a difference in language proficiency between them.

“Oh,” Christina stated, putting the phrase into the back of her mind for future reference. “It was a job offer I was given when I graduated from high school.”

“Yeah,” Christina answered back. “Apparently graduating from the top of my class helped a bit. So I suppose you could say that this is a career choice.”

“I…I see,” Miyuki muttered, a bit taken aback especially since now she realized that her roommate was actually two or three years her senior. “You were a prodigy I guess?” Miyuki asked, raising an eyebrow.

Christina nodded. “Not exactly my first choice, but the scholarship they offered would cover the four years. It’s sort of hard to turn down such an offer, especially with my financial situation.”

“Financial situation?” Miyuki asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out,” Christina answerer, winking at the girl. “While I’m not exactly big on the killing aspect of this job, at least I can get some additional schooling done while I’m here, and use it after my contract is up. I figure that I’m probably going to be at this for about 8 years in total, so I need something under my belt.”

“I…I see,” said Miyuki, noting how Christina seemed quite calm about her situation. “I guess this helps you in many ways.”

“Quite,” Christina agreed. Pushing herself off the bed, she glanced at the closet and asked, “So which side is mine, and which bed is mine?”

After figuring out and agreeing which belonged to whom, they both unpacked their things and made themselves at home as best they could.

“Well you see, I grew up in a happy family,” Miyuki continued, explaining her reasoning. “Sure we had our ups and downs, but we were always a happy family, aside from the usual sibling spats and arguments with our folks of course. I suppose that I’ve grown to treasure that happiness, those smiles they wear so much, that I don’t want it to disappear. I want them to keep smiling, even if I die protecting that. But I’d at least die knowing that I had done my part to protect what was precious to me.”

“That’s…quite insightful,” Christina commented. “I’m not sure if I could find something like that…”

“Then I guess don’t?” Miyuki offered. “Because the way I see it, you can do what most people do: stick it out until it’s finished and leave it at that. Do your best so that you can at least use it as a means to get you where you want. You don’t have to have a reason to be here. I could have turned this offer down, but if I have a chance to even help prevent the loss of my family’s smiles, I’ll take it. So…I guess what I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to fight or be here for something. Just do this for yourselves, you know?”

“I guess,” Christina sighed. “But I hope that it never comes down to us having to fight.”